GamepadBlock

Arcade and Original Game Controller USB Interface

Meet the GamepadBlock

Overview

Connect your favourite arcade and original game controllers to your computer (Windows, Mac, and Linux, including Raspberry Pi™) with the GamepadBlock.

The GamepadBlock is an Arcade and Original Game Controller USB Interface for your computer. Are you working on your own arcade machine? Or are you building your own retro-gaming machine with original controllers? The GamepadBlock is the ideal device for easily connecting original gamepads and arcade controls like joysticks and buttons to your computer. It is connected to your computer via USB cable. Depending on the controller mode you can connect up to two gamepads to the GamepadBlock. It is fully HID compliant so that you do not need to install any drivers. Windows, Mac, and Linux are supported, which also includes system-on-chip platforms like the Raspberry Pi. You can use two or more adapters on one computer.

Features and Technical Specifications

The GamepadBlock is an easy to use, multi-platform USB interface for connecting arcade controls as well as various original console gamepads. Up to two gamepads can be connected. You do not need to install any drivers, only connect the controllers and you are ready to go. The GamepadBlock can be updated via USB for future enhancements.

Connect your favourite arcade and original game controllers to your computer

What our customers say

Easy to connect controllers and I like the ability to use it on PC, Mac, and Linux.

Tom,

Further Details

There already exist USB interfaces that allow you to connect arcade controls. And there are also other USB interfaces that allow you to connect one type of original game controllers or another type of controllers. In some cases these interfaces also only allow to connect a controller for one player.

The key feature of the GamepadBlock is that it supports a whole range of controller types at the same time. It, therefore, combines several of the individually available adapters within one device. And since the GamepadBlock is USB HID-compliant, it can be used on Windows, MacOS, and Linux including system-on-chip platforms like the Raspberry Pi or Odroid. For all gaming consoles that are supported two gamepads can be connected. And you can even switch between the controller types via a virtual COM port.

Getting Started with the GamepadBlock

Attaching the GamepadBlock to the PC

In order to connect the GamepadBlock to your PC you need a USB cable with a micro USB connector on the one end and an USB-A connector on the other end. A green LED indicates an active power supply.

For Windows and Mac platforms you do not have to install or configure anything on their machine. The native USB HID drivers are used for the GamepadBlock. For Linux platforms you also do not need to install any drivers. However, you need to activate a so-called HID quirk until our patch has been merged into the Linux mainline. You can find instructions for that in the tutorial section below.

Attaching the Original Controllers to the GamepadBlock

You use the screwing terminal blocks for connecting the original controllers. If you are looking for controller sockets, we made good experiences with controller sockets from extension cables for the corresponding controllers. Alternatively, you could use original hardware from old consoles.

In the following tables you can find wiring details for every supported controller types. Click on the tab that shows the controller type that you are interested in.

Using the GamepadBlock under Linux/Raspbian

We found that the Linux service ModemManager interferes with the GamepadBlock when trying to do GamepadBlock firmware updates under Linux/Raspbian. In order to prevent this, a udev rule can be installedthat stops the interference between the ModemManager and the GamepadBlock.

In order to install that rule you can simply run the following command from within the Linux console:

Copy to Clipboard

Updating the Firmware

The firmware of the GamepadBlock can easiliy be updated via the USB connection. We recommend to update the firmware before first use. This ensures that you get the latest firmware version with the maximum of features.

To update the firmware we have developed the tool “GamepadBlock Updater”. You can find detailed instructions about the tool and a how to for updating the firmware on this dedicated page.

Links

Related Posts

This is a post as part of a tutorial series about getting to start with the GamepadBlock. In this tutorial we will learn how to use the GamepadBlock with Debian or Debian-based distributions like Ubuntu. Preparation [...]